KERN COUNTY EMERGENCY ALERT PROGRAM

Kern County has implemented ReadyKern, a state-of-the-art emergency notification system alerts residents & businesses about natural disasters and other crises. The new emergency notification system enables Kern County to provide essential information quickly in a variety of situations, such as earthquakes, severe weather, fires, floods, or evacuation of buildings or neighborhoods.

HOW READYKERN WORKS

The process begins when Kern County issues a message about a potential safety hazard or concern. Messages will be sent to all standard voice and text communication devices, including land line phones, cell phones, e-mail, and more. If you don't confirm receipt of the message, the system will try to reach your second contact number or email. The system will continue trying to contact you until it receives a confirmation from you.

To receive important communications from Kern County, residents and business owners must register the voice and text communication devices where they wish to receive messages.

SIGN UP FOR EMERGENCY ALERTS

Residents and businesses with listed telephone numbers have already been included in ReadyKern. You may add more ways to contact you by selecting one of the following two options:

OPTION 1: ADVANCED REGISTRATION

Option 1 directs you to a secure website to create a user profile. After selecting “Don’t have an account? Sign up” at the bottom of the page, you will be asked to create your profile. You will then be walked through the rest of the registration process.

Option 1 allows you to manage your user profile and update your contact information at your convenience. All information you provide will be kept strictly confidential to the extent permitted by law.

OPTION 2: EXPRESS REGISTRATION

Option 2 allows you to add your contact information without having to create a user profile. You may still manage your user profile and update your contact information at your convenience. All information you provide will be kept strictly confidential to the extent permitted by law.

UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION

STOP RECEIVING ALERTS

If you have registered for ReadyKern, call (661) 873-2602 and ask to opt out of ReadyKern. By opting out of ReadyKern, you will no longer receive emergency notifications.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Kern County is pleased to announce the launch of its ReadyKern mass notification system. With this service, Kern County can send personalized voice and e-mail messages to residents and businesses within minutes with specific information about time-sensitive issues such as emergencies and local community matters.

WHAT IS READYKERN?The service allows authorized Kern County leaders to create and rapidly disseminate time-sensitive messages to every telephone number and e-mail address stored in the notification database.

HOW DOES READYKERN WORK?ReadyKern enables Kern County, with one call or a few clicks of a computer mouse, to communicate with thousands of residents and businesses anywhere, anytime, via home phone, cell phone, business phone, or e-mail address.

WHAT TYPES OF MESSAGES WILL BE SENT USING READYKERN?Any message regarding the safety or welfare of Kern County residents would be disseminated using the ReadyKern system. Examples would include the need to evacuate buildings or neighborhoods because of earthquake, fire, or flood, and any other situation that could impact the safety or welfare of Kern County residents.

HOW CAN I SIGN UP TO RECEIVE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS?Initially the system was populated with listed home telephone numbers from the phone companies. Kern County has also provided a registration page for residents and businesses who do not have listed home telephone numbers to provide their contact information. The registration page also allows individuals to provide additional contact information such as a cell phone, business phone or e-mail address. Sign up online by clicking here. Sign up through mail by downloading the registration form and mailing it to the address provided on the form. It is our intention and hope that every residence and business in Kern County be included in the notification database.

WILL THERE BE A WAY TO POSITIVELY IDENTIFY INCOMING CALLS MADE BY KERN COUNTY USING READYKERN?The Caller ID number for calls generated by the ReadyKern service will always begin with the 661 area code. In addition, every message will begin with an introduction that identifies it as an urgent emergency message.

WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE A LANDLINE? CAN READYKERN CALL MY CELL PHONE?Yes. Residents who have registered their cell phone numbers in ReadyKern will receive notifications on their cell phone. Since there are many instances when residents may not be at home to receive an emergency message, we recommend that all residents with a cell phone add their number to ReadyKern.

MY CELL PHONE NUMBER HAS A NON-LOCAL AREA CODE. WILL I STILL RECEIVE CALLS?Yes. The area code does not impact whether or not a call is made.

I REGISTERED SEVERAL COMMUNICATION DEVICES; WILL READYKERN CONTACT ME ON EACH ONE?ReadyKern will continue to cycle through each and every communication device available until the message is delivered and confirmed by the recipient. To confirm a message, you must listen to the entire message and then press 1.

DOES READYKERN REPLACE OTHER EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS?No. ReadyKern is a significant enhancement to existing means of mass notification and is supplemental to, not a replacement for, other communication methods used by emergency personnel. During an emergency, television and radio will continue to broadcast important announcements. If emergency personnel recommend that you evacuate, you should follow their recommendations.

WILL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANY THIRD PARTY ORGANIZATIONS?Kern County will not share or distribute personal information to the extent permitted by law.

CAN I "OPT OUT" OF READYKERN CALLS?Residents and businesses can opt out; however, we strongly discourage this. ReadyKern may be used to send information that is time-sensitive and critical. If you choose to opt out of the system, it will prevent Kern County from notifying you of important and potentially life-saving information. If you would still like to opt out of the system, click here.

WHO DO I CONTACT IF I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?If you have more questions about ReadyKern, please send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 211.